Letter From The Editor

Last week I wrote about a pharmacist colleague who contacted me about using long acting insulin on a prn basis. Our discussion led to the idea of starting insulin at diagnosis. Some of you commented positively on using insulin as needed while others felt that would never work. This week …

We often emphasize food choices for our diabetes patients and one overriding target is to decrease carbohydrates. Although this makes great sense in an overweight type 2 patient on orals, or orals and insulin, it is not necessarily as important in our type 1 patients. If you look at the …

A colleague, the director of pharmacy for a large multi-office ACO in our area, called me recently. One of his Clinical MTM pharmacists had heard from some patients who were using Lantus or Levemir as needed. He contacted me to find out if I had ever seen this before. This got …

Steve, Andrew and I are back from the 73rd ADA Scientific Sessions in Chicago with lots of great information for you including many studies on current medications either showing improved outcomes or the value of using existing medications in new combinations or strengths. However, most research focused on new drugs …

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and the emergency room is where the these kids usually end up. The onset of DKA can occur at anytime and can occur in children who were previously naive to the disease. …

This weekend finds all of us at the ADA meeting in Chicago and we have some early releases on some of the findings. The great thing about the Scientific Sessions is that researchers of new drugs, techniques and methods of diabetes care put all their work out for us to …

We are moving closer to the full bore effect of the Affordable Care Act and although there are many opinions as to how good or bad the idea is, it has increased healthcare coverage for many Americans. Part of the program’s positive ideas includes more emphasis on prevention and wellness, …

This week I was talking to a group of physician interns about food choices for diabetes and was trying to explain the value of a low carbohydrate program. During the discussion one of the students interrupted to advise the group that eating less carbohydrates means more fat and that will …

I just finished a class this morning with seven patients in an endocrinologist’s office. They were seven of the most diverse patients I have ever had in a class; two patients on orals, an oral and basal insulin patient, a type 2 who was dependent on insulin, a type 1.5 …

We have brought you a lot of information on the emergence of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) as a new model for healthcare. Many practitioners are starting to see the value of ACOs because Medicare payment models feature the "upside-only" shared savings. This means that Medicare is not penalizing practices if …